KSU Cheerleaders Who Knelt During National Anthem Cut From Squad

Last season, five Kennesaw State University cheerleaders caused an uproar when they began kneeling during the playing of the National Anthem. At the time, Kennesaw took action and banned the girls from the pregame routine, but quickly did an about-face and let the cheerleaders back on the field.

There were many questions of if those girls would do the same this season as Kennesaw gets set to open their season against Georgia State on Thursday night.

It turns out that 4 out of the 5 girls didn’t get invited back to the squad this year.

KSU told WXIA that becoming a cheerleader for the university’s squad was more competitive than ever. But one of the so-called “Kennesaw 5 Cheerleaders” who didn’t make the squad believes them taking a kneel played a huge part.

Toomia Dead didn’t want her face on camera, but still wanted her voice heard, saying the move is “what happens when you take a stand.”

WXIA reached out to the school, who said it was an increase of competition that was to blame.

The school said it had just 61 applicants for the squad in 2017. That jumped to more than 95 applicants this year, creating more competition for the 52 available spots on the roster. Of those who tried out, 33 prospective cheerleaders did not make this year’s squad, seven of whom were on the team last year.

But Dean said she isn’t buying that.

“I think it played a role because I know my skills, and I had the skills two years prior to that, so I know what I can do,” she said. “I know the people who made it. I know their skills and I know my skills. But I don’t think it was a skills-based thing. Not to say I’m amazing or anything, but I know my skills and what I had.”